Chapter 1 - Unshackle My Soul (CF)
Tubba opened his eyes into the darkness, frustration boiling underneath his skin. He let his narrowed eyes rake the dark room around him, establishing shapes such as the shapes of other species sleeping in various beds around him. He was in the Glitz Pit blue major room, fulfilling his job as an entertainer and a Glitz Pit battler daily. A job that he had been forced to take, and had languished in for sixteen years under the vicious and money-loving reign of his younger twin, Chubba. It had all started in the humble setting of Gusty Gulch, where he had been the heir of the once-great Clubba Kingdom, the eldest son of his father, Tubba Blubba Sr.. A burning desire to prove the doubters wrong turned into a furious rage once his father was killed in an accident. Person after person fell to his bloodied hands, the first being longtime school tormentor Bubba, a large orange Clubba. A fugitive on the run from the Clubba Kingdom, he reconciled weeks later once the anger and hurt vanished over the death of his father, he was cleared of his murder charges on grounds of temporary insanity. Although Chubba had taken over the Kingship from their father, he abdicated and the two of them set out together, leaving their cousin Mycerinus in charge of their Kingdom. A decision Tubba always regretted. At fourteen, the two of them earned their positions at the Glitz Pit, but as Chubba had done in the school before, the ensuing years were spent ridiculing and angering his older brother. This was exacerbated by Chubba taking over the Glitz Pit at twenty, setting out to achieve the goal of becoming the richest person alive. His wallet grew, but his like of his brother shrunk, treating him no better than dirt. Four years later, Chubba achieved his goal, passing Gill Bates the Blooper in terms of annual income. The same year, ten years after joining the Glitz Pit, Mycerinus died in a war against the Mushroom Kingdom and the BeanBean Kingdom united. The old Commander of the Armies and one of Tubba's father's most trusted friends, Clubbar, came to the Glitz Pit requesting the help of both of them. Tubba agreed, and led a mass battler walkout on his brother. What he had thought had been his choice, his mission, Tubba learned that he was just a pawn in the plans of his brother. He and his team, The Outsiders, consisting of his longtime friend Gonzales, a dark blue Clubba, and Blizzerd, a Wizzerd-turned-Barribad, had no longer been generating income. Two of the Clubba Kingdom's high ranking officials, Mazette, the orange-scaled queen of Mycerinus, and Clubbette, Tubba's own light blue half-sister, had conspired with Chubba and the Koopan heir Ludwig von Koopa to get rid of Tubba and dissolve the Clubba Kingdom into the Koopa Kingdom. Tubba had always been against the dissolution of his Kingdom. Clubbas had once ruled the world, under the legendary ruler Cloansar, bowing to no one and nothing. A win snatched from the jaws of defeat and a sound thrashing of Clubbette at Gusty Gulch led Tubba to believe that that destiny was barely years away, and yet, he had grossly underestimated who he had been rubbing shoulders with. He always knew Mazette and Clubbette were his enemies, Ludwig a little later, but Clubbar had been the Clubba he had put all his faith in, and he never expected Chubba to be behind the plan to get rid of him. The scene in Barrel volcano played out in his mind over and over again over the next six years. Cornered by Ludwig, Clubbette, Mazette, Clubbar and Chubba, he had refused to yield to their wish of deposing of him. Chubba, however, came prepared, hostaging his closest friends Gonzales and Blizzerd and offering a deal. Either, all three of them would die in the fiery volcano, or, if Tubba came back to work for him - thus, earning him more money - for the rest of his life, he would spare Gonzales and Blizzerd. Tubba had given in. He had never seen Gonzales or Blizzerd since. The thought always haunted his mind if he was double-crossed, hoodwinked again. Six years had passed since that scene inside the volcano, and Tubba caught rumours of what had happened to the various people who had pushed him into that corner. Chubba, obviously, was still happily running the Glitz Pit and contractually engaging his brother to an inhumane contract. Clubbar had died two years after, serving in the capacity of Commander till his death. Mazette and Clubbette were joint-rulers of the Clubba territory of the Koopa Kingdom, serving to the new King, Ludwig von Koopa. Many a way to escape the contract had been thought up by Tubba. It was illegal by all countries' standards, except that there was one issue with going to the court. The Mushroom Kingdom and the BeanBean Kingdom had made him a wanted person in their Kingdoms, for his role in driving them out of Gusty Gulch. Everyone knew where he was; it was just Chubba's monthly deliverances of coins to those Kingdoms that kept them from apprehending him in Glitzville. The Koopa Kingdom too made him wanted, but that was just to boost his status as a moneymaker for Chubba, and the larger Kingdom had flexed their muscles to convince the Waffle Kingdom to make him wanted there as well. When Sarasaland established themselves as a country in 2020, they took on the Mushroom Kingdom's most wanted list, adopting Tubba there as well. Nowhere in the known quarter of the world was safe for him, except Glitzville. Even if he wasn't wanted, all it would take would be some cash given by Chubba to the court to allow the Glitz Pit to win the case. None of the battlers knew of his plight, for Tubba had been told to keep quiet by Chubba, or else he would be killed. Tubba hated himself for it, but he could not fathom the thought of death. He would rather hide in his shell, let the injustices pile up, let him be misused, than just be freed from the world with the sweet release of death. He always thought it was because he still had a purpose as a corporeal being on the Mushroom World, but as the months ticked into years, he found it hard to imagine a purpose for himself other than making his brother money. But Tubba knew he could not quit. Something kept him tied to this world. Something made him want to stay. And he would fight, kicking and screaming, away from the Glitz Pit, away from the known quarter of the Mushroom World, until his soul could be free to roam at will again.